The title Lord Duffus was created by Charles II in the

Peerage of Scotland The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Unio ...

on 8 December 1650 for Alexander Sutherland. He was a descendant of the 4th Earl of Sutherland, who fell in battle in 1333. The title is now extinct, although there may be male-line Sutherlands descended from earlier lairds of Duffus. In 1734, the 3rd Lord was

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...

and the lordship was forfeited. His son Eric tried but failed to get a reverse of the attainder. His son James Sutherland of Duffus got the attainder reversed, and was restored to the lordship as 4th (

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

5th) Lord Duffus on 25 May 1826. The last two Lords Duffus were also baronets, of Hempriggs in the County of Caithness (3rd and 4th). The lordship became extinct on the death of the 6th (titular 7th) Lord Duffus on 28 August 1875.

Lairds of Duffus

Sutherland of Duffus, of Forse, Cheyne and Chisholm coats of arms

The Sutherland family of Duffus descended from Nicholas Sutherland, only brother of

William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland William de Moravia (also known as William Sutherland) (died 1370) was the 5th Earl of Sutherland and chief of the Clan Sutherland, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. William, 5th Earl of Sutherland was a loyal supporter of David II of Sco ...

(d. 1370), and younger son of

Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland Kenneth de Moravia (also known as Kenneth Sutherland) (died 19 July 1333) was the 4th Earl of Sutherland and chief of the Clan Sutherland, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. Early life Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland was the ...

. The village of

Duffus Duffus ( gd, Dubhais) is a village and parish in Moray, Scotland. The Duffus Village Inn, the local shop, Post Office and Duffus Village Hall provide a focal point for the community. Nearby are the remains of Duffus Castle, St. Peters' Kirk, a ...

is outside of the county of

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later c ...

, but the Sutherlands of Duffus also held lands within Sutherland, most notably Skelbo. Some of the Sutherland of Duffus family may have assumed the surname Duffus, which was the family title instead of the surname Sutherland.Sutherland of Duffus Family Tree
duffus.com Retrieved on 28 December 2012.

List of Lairds of Duffus

These are the early ancestors of the Lords Duffus. *

Nicholas Sutherland, 1st of Duffus Nicholas Sutherland, 1st of Duffus was a Scottish noble who was seated at Duffus Castle, near Elgin, Moray, Scotland in the 14th and 15th centuries. History Nicholas Sutherland was the second son of Kenneth de Moravia, 4th Earl of Sutherland, ...

(younger son of

(Kenneth Sutherland). *John Sutherland, 2nd of Duffus. *

Alexander Sutherland, 3rd of Duffus Alexander Sutherland, 3rd of Duffus (died 1482) was a Scottish member of the nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Laird of Duffus He was the son of Henry Sutherland of Torboll and Margaret Mureff or Moray. His uncle was John Sutherland, ...

and Torboll (d. c.1484) (son of Henry Sutherland of Torboll, younger son of Nicholas, 1st of Duffus) * William Sutherland of Quarrywood, later 4th of Duffus (d. c.1513) (son of William Sutherland of Berriedale, son of Alexander, 3rd of Duffus) *

William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus (died 1529) was a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the son of William Sutherland, 4th of Duffus who died in 1513 and his mother may have been Janet Innes Lad ...

(d. c.1529) *

William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus (killed in 1530) was a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet branch, cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the son of William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus (died 1529) and his wife Janet, daughter of ...

(d. c.1530) *

William Sutherland, 7th of Duffus William Sutherland, 7th of Duffus (died 1543) was a Scottish member of the nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the son of William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus who had been killed in 1530, in Thurso by the Clan Gunn who a ...

(d. 1543) *

Alexander Sutherland, 8th of Duffus Alexander Sutherland, 8th of Duffus (died c. 1570) was a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the son of William Sutherland, 7th of Duffus (died 1543) and his wife Elizabeth Stewart. He was still ...

(1534 - 1579) *

William Sutherland, 9th of Duffus William Sutherland, 9th of Duffus (died 1616) was a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the second eldest son of Alexander Sutherland, 8th of Duffus and his wife Janet, daughter of James Grant o ...

(d. 1616) *

William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus (died 1626) was a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the son of William Sutherland, 9th of Duffus who had married firstly, Margaret, daughter of George Sinclai ...

(d. 1626)

Lords Duffus (1650)

Alexander Sutherland, 1st Lord Duffus Alexander Sutherland (died 1674) was the 1st Lord Duffus, a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the eldest son of William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus and his wife Jean, daughter of John Grant of ...

(d. 1674) (son of William Sutherland, 10th of Duffus) *

James Sutherland, 2nd Lord Duffus James Sutherland (died 1705) was the 2nd Lord Duffus, member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the eldest son of Alexander Sutherland, 1st Lord Duffus and his wife Jean, daughter and co-heiress of Co ...

(d. 1705) who had issue four sons including Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus, Sir James Dunbar, 1st Baronet of Hempriggs (who changed his surname from Sutherland to Dunbar), two others, and one daughter. * Kenneth Sutherland, 3rd Lord Duffus (d. 1734). His estates were forfeited for taking part in the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire, ...

. He fled to Sweden, where he married a Swedish lady, Christina Sjöblad, by whom he had: *'' Eric Sutherland, 4th Lord Duffus'' (1710-1768) (not restored, but counted), he married his first cousin Elizabeth, third daughter of Sir James Dunbar, 1st Baronet of Hempriggs who was originally James Sutherland the second son of James Sutherland, 2nd Lord Duffus. *James Sutherland, 5th Lord Duffus (1747-1827). His title was restored by an Act of Parliament in 1826. He was succeeded by his 2nd cousin in the male line: *Benjamin Sutherland Dunbar, 6th Lord Duffus, 3rd Baronet of Hempriggs (1761-1843), the surname Sutherland having previously been changed to Dunbar. *George Sutherland Dunbar, 7th Lord Duffus (1799-1875) (extinct 1875) used the title of 7th Lord Duffus, but was also known as Sir George Dunbar of Hempriggs, 4th Baronet.One source "The Lost Lordship of Duffus"
claims that due to the Rudd challenge, the 7th Lord never used the title, and chose to be known as a baronet.

Notes

Information on the Lords Duffus was obtained in part from the Sutherland history (below), and fro
''Elinor Glyn''
(1955), a memoir by her grandson Anthony Glyn. Glyn and her sister

Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née Sutherland; 13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a leading British fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who worked under the professional name Lucile. The first British-based designe ...

were born Sutherlands, descended from David Sutherland, Laird of Cambusavie, allegedly a son of Alexander Sutherland, a younger brother of the Jacobite 3rd Lord Duffus, who is described in ''

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Rober ...

'' as having died without issue. The fact that the 6th Lord Duffus inherited in 1827 over the now Canadian Sutherlands, who sold their estates in the 1770s to the

, probably means that the relationship was more distant, or if the same, that the Laird of Cambusavie was illegitimate.

References

''The Scots Peerage''
(archived version). *Daniel J.J. Sutherland

Retrieved 15 March 2009.

External links